Ironman 70.3 North Carolina Race Recap

I’m going to start this Race Recap with a post I just found in my drafts - titled, “Triathlon Training Week 1 Recap:”

This was supposed to be my Week 1 Triathlon Training recap post . I was going to recap all about ramping up my swimming, biking and running with the NYC Triathlon a short 7 weeks away.

I was going to start laying the groundwork for half Ironman Wilmington this fall (because yes, I’m doing that again!)

In my head, the week looked like this:

Monday - Bike Ride (Hills)
Tuesday - F45 Strength Training
Wednesday - F45 AM / Run PM
Thursday - Long Bike Ride
Friday - F45 AM / Swim PM
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - “Long” Run

Instead, I got in a bike crash during Monday night’s bike ride (but not before completing my first ever Harlem Hill workout - 10 repeats!) and have been sidelined with a bruised tailbone and super stiff neck.

I’m sad. I’m frustrated. And I’m really really grateful that I’m sore but I’m not broken.

I won’t lie - taking a full week off of physical activity (while PMSing) feels a little bit like torture to me - but I know that I’m over-reacting and need to relax. I need to rest, recuperate, and not jump back in too quickly and derail training even further by making things worse.

So I’m forcing myself to be smart, despite the fact that it’s Global Running Day and all I want to do is lace up my sneakers. Despite the fact that it’s my first time back in two weeks and I’m dying to go to an F45 class with all my friends. Despite the fact that I’ll certainly be the least prepared I’ve ever been for the NYC Tri this year.

So, the reality of week 1 of training is:

Monday - Bike Ride (Hills)
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Walk to Work
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Rest

Fast forward tot he NYC Tri being cancelled, my summer being packed with work travel, wavering on whether or not I wanted to even attempt Wilmington so close to a big work event - and here we are - at the race recap. I did it! Another 70.3.

Here’s what I wrote in my journal on the flight to Wilmington:

I spent another 16 weeks training for the Wilmington 70.3 Ironman race and this year - I’m actually on a plane headed to North Carolina. We are doing this!

My triathlon season got off to a shaky start this year when the NYC triathlon was cancelled and although I was sad since it’s always one of my favorite days of the year - I wasn’t distraught considering I was exhausted after a long stretch of work travel.

So without a real practice round, 70.3 training began without much fan fair (Abby accidentally started a couple weeks early…) It is really crazy the amount of pressure I put on myself in 2018 vs. this year, after having completed the half iron distance last year in Montauk.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m still type A Lauren with perfectionist tendencies and I was still very insistent on two a days and planning weekends around long rides and having some minor meltdowns when work trips interfered with my master plan (Excel sheet).

But overall, it was only a few weeks into training when I said to Abby: “It’s such a good feeling to know if the race was tomorrow…it would be hard be we would finish.”

Now, after a week of tapering I’m trying really hard to reconnect to that feeling of self confidence because the voice in my head is saying, “It’s been forever since you biked 60 miles, are you sure you’re going to be able to do it?”

Along with the ever present triathlon vampires that take turns saying:
”You are going to drown.”
”You are going to get a flat tire.”
”Your shins are going to hurt too much to run.”

But I’m reminding myself of a few things every time those voices kick in.

#1 This weekend is going to be great because I will be with two of my best friends

#2 My goal when I signed up again for this years race was, “I probably won’t be able to do it because of work but I want to spend the summer training.” And I spent a great summer biking with Abby and running in Central Park and swimming in the Long Island Sound.

#3 I practiced swimming in open water more than ever before! And actually enjoyed some open water swimming!

#4 I’m going to do the best I can. Being a triathlete requires mental strength just as much as physical strength.

If I beat last years time, I will be ecstatic. If I don’t, I don’t.

I’m excited for Kayla to finally get her 70.3 finish!

I’m excited to eat peanut butter, bananas, bread and dates for 24 hours.

I’m excited for a pre race turkey sandwich and pre-race jitters and race day braids and my manicure is SICK!

I’m excited to do something for myself before working for 23 days straight.

I want to smile a lot. I want a laughing induced bellyache in the next 4 days. I want to be present and supportive and I don’t want to give in to negative self talk. I want to trust my training and trust my self motivation. I want things to go well but if and when they don’t I want to roll with the punches cause that’s life. And life is grand!

THURSDAY

Our flight to Raleigh luckily left without delay, despite strong winds and rainy skies. I had an emotional moment when we took off in gloomy gray skies and ascended above the clouds to bright sunshine.

The sun is always there! Even when it’s obscured by clouds!

I journaled a little on the flight (see above) and listened to Dermot Kennedy and soon enough we were in North Carolina. Kayla and Caroline landed right around the same time as us and we were quickly united in baggage claim.

The plan was to go to Whole Foods to stock up on food for the three days we were in town, eat lunch at the bakery attached to Whole Foods, and then be picked up by Caroline’s sister Molly who would be our race Sherpa and bring us to Wilmington.

When our Uber arrived to pick us up at the airport it suddenly dawned on us how ridiculous this seemed – 4 girls with backpacks, suitcases and duffel bags asking to go from the airport to…Whole Foods?

We were cracking up along with our driver Michael who ended up being from Brooklyn and Port Jefferson! Such a small world and we had such a fun ride with him. My goal of laughing until my stomach hurt during the weekend was accomplished within approximately 20 minutes of landing.

The best picture of the weekend very well may be this one taken by Michael in the Whole Foods parking lot.

We were greeting by granola and bread samples as we rolled our suitcases through the aisles.

Next stop was lunch and while I wasn’t super hungry, Abby and I split the avocado toast (with black beans and other delicious things) and (obviously) the TURKEY SANDWICH.

We also had to try the cinnamon and pumpkin spice scones which were out of this world.

We made ourselves comfortable in La Farm Bakery, bought ourselves a loaf of Fall Harvest bread for the weekend, and then – MY FAMILY STOPPED BY!

My grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle were nearby for a wake and they were able to stop and say hello. It made me BEYOND happy. It had been a long time since I had seen family, and after a recent cancelled weekend trip home I definitely needed some hugs.   

My grandma left my friends and I with the parting words of: “Find the cutest male butt and follow it!”

We hung out for awhile longer and then Molly came to pick us up. The car ride to our Airbnb was pretty uneventful, but by the time we pulled into the driveway we were in a time crunch to get to the final athlete briefing of the day at 5 PM.

We quickly dropped off our stuff and headed downtown to the convention center and Ironman Village! Seeing that sign made everything feel real!

We sat through the 45 minute athlete briefing which had a lot of information and I think put us all a little on edge with the amount of rules and how many things on the course were grounds for disqualification. 6 bike lengths is what they say cyclists need to maintain – otherwise you risk being penalized for drafting. Absolutely no phones on any part of the course. 

With the briefing over we picked up our packets – full of race information, bibs, stickers (sadly, no tattoos) and shopped around for a little bit – I came incredibly close to buying a donut jersey but unfortunately, they didn’t have my size.

Abby picked up some new shoes (I’m sure this will be the number one item on her packing list at future triathlons) and we laughed at the fact that my name was cut off from almost every item of clothing that listed all of the participants’ names. 

We returned to our car to find someone peeing – “Sorry! It was a really long drive!” they announced unabashedly.

Dude. The building, which has a bathroom, is 50 feet away. 

We got back to the Airbnb and unpacked the car before heading off in search of food. It was crazy to me that every single restaurant in the Wilmington area was a chain of some sort. 

The chain we ended up at was Zoe’s Kitchen – a fast casual Mediterranean spot. 

Back at the house, we spent the night arranging our things into T1 bags, T2 bags, morning bags, “give to Molly for after the race” bags, etc. etc. My brain hurt, and I wrote myself a LOT of post-it notes to try to make things simpler. But there is really nothing simple about a two transition half Ironman.

FRIDAY

The next morning, we awoke with the intention of heading to the water for a test swim in our wetsuits – until I realized my wetsuit was in the bag I had shipped with Tribike and was still sitting at Ironman Village. It was to be a morning of lots of logistics, lots of talking in circles, and lots of walking in circles. But 4 heads are better than one and I like to think we did a great job staying calm and organized (for the most part).

Once I realized I needed my wetsuit we drove back into town to pick our bikes up. When we got to Ironman Village we stopped at the information table to ask a few questions. The biggest question was – do we really need to take the athlete shuttles from Ironman Village or can we get dropped off at T1 on race morning – which our Airbnb was much closer to. As someone who works in events, I could tell that everyone we asked was just giving us the answer they were trained to give which was essentially, “We planned for these shuttles, get on them!”

But after talking to multiple people we made the decision that if we got dropped off at T1 before the road closure, it would still save us time as opposed to driving all the way back into town to get on a shuttle. 

Anyway – the man at the information table was super chatty and gave us lots of words of advice about putting our wetsuits on which actually turned out to be incredibly helpful.

After talking to him for awhile we went to Tribike and got our pedals put back on – the two guys working were also incredibly friendly and helpful. They inflated our tires to the right pressure and reassured us that they would be fine overnight and there was no need to worry about re-inflating them in the morning. I think we all breathed a little sigh of relief since none of us had flown with a pump.

We managed to fit all four bikes in the back of the car – which Abby and Caroline drove to T1 while Kayla and I hopped in an Uber and met them there.

Before bringing our bikes into transition and saying goodbye to them until Saturday morning, we took them for a spin around the parking lot to check that everything was A-OK.

Then, it was time to drop off our T1 bags. We left them hanging with our bikes and helmets and would actually set the items up on Saturday morning (they warned us not to put anything on the grass overnight because of fire ants!)

We were very lucky with our rack locations – they were in an easy to remember place and close to both the run in and the bike out. Plus, we were all close to each other which was great.

T1 Bag

• Cycling Shoes

• Socks 

• Goggles

• Swim Cap

• Ear Plugs

• Shirt with bib pre-fastened

• Arm Sleeves (these were perfect and I’m so glad Abby had them on her packing list)

• Cycling Sunglasses

• Towel (to lay things out on and to dry off after the swim)

Before leaving T1 I made sure that I had put stickers on my bike frame and helmet and my numbered sticker on my T1 bag.

I checked that everything was in my flat kit and I loaded my fuel into my Po Campo handlebar bag (a Stasher bag full of dates and a Lara Bar)

And I made sure to take my water bottle off my bike so I could fill it and bring it with me to T1 on race morning.

We then went in search of a place we could get in the water – which resulted in us walking around in circles for a very long time before realizing we couldn’t swim where we were and needed to head to the swim start.

We ended up across the street from the swim start, but water is water and at that point we just wanted to practice getting in and out of our wetsuits and mentally prepare ourselves for the water temperature. A nice lady in the parking lot had us cracking up as she seem completely bewildered at what we were about to do the following morning.

After putting another giant hole in my wetsuit with my nails – I was a little cranky. Wetsuits just make me anxious and claustrophobic and I was convinced that after getting out of the water I was going to feel more nervous and stressed. But luckily, everything felt good. The water temperature was lovely, I had put my wetsuit on properly for possibly the first time, and though we were only in the water for a grand total of 3 minutes, I emerged feeling better about things instead of worse.

We obviously had to take a parking lot wetsuit selfie before doing some quick changing and drying and continuing to T2.

At this point, I couldn’t have imagined arriving on Friday and having to do all of this – I would have been a complete disaster of stress. Taking off from work on Thursday and flying in early was definitely the right move!

T2 was anticlimactic in a good way – we simply left our labeled T2 bags at our rack and walked out.

T2 Bag

• Plastic Waterbottle 

• Goodrs

• Spibelt

• Socks

• Sneakers

• Gel

• Lara Bar

On our drive back to the Airbnb we stopped at the grocery store for some lunch supplies and walked out with not only a pound of turkey, but a giant baby head mask and a bottle of champagne.

I was very relieved that by lunch time all of the logistics were pretty much done – all that was left to do was hydrate, fuel, relax and get ready for show time!

Lunch (turkey, Pop Corners, Fall Harvest toast with PB, baby carrots, etc.) was enjoyed outside by the pool – it was sunny and beautiful out (but there were 238492 flies trying to eat our food).

I made the mistake of logging onto my email and almost passed out as 100+ emails flooded my inbox. I spent the next 2 hours making my way through them, since I knew I would feel better Saturday and Sunday if I got to a good place with work.

That night we made pasta with sauce and ate a simple, carby dinner. We went around the table and all said what we were most excited for – and my answer was that I was excited to put all my swimming practice to use. I really was looking forward to hopefully having a swim I could feel proud of! I wanted to swim, not just survive the swim.

The 5 of us played Anomia to stay distracted and then it was time to go to bed!!

My Friday night post its to myself were:

• Give Caroline my Patagonia (so it was in the car post-race) 

• Give Caroline my backpack (so I can return it to Tribike after the race)

• Charge Garmin

I actually fell asleep pretty easily.

SATURDAY - RACE DAY!

Soon it was 3:56 AM and Kayla was dancing in our room to “Life Is A Highway” with her baby mask on and I was belly hysterically laughing. The perfect start to the day!

We did a lovely dance around the Airbnb as 4 girls got ready in a house with a small kitchen and one bathroom.

Saturday Morning To Do List:

• Breakfast – half of an English muffin with PB and banana   

• Coffee – Starbucks instant coffee which I swear by for getting things goin’ if you know what I mean

• Give Caroline my phone charger, so it would be in the car after the race (I think the most annoying part about not having an iPhone is not being able to share a charger with people and always having to make sure I have mine with me!)

• Body Glide, Body Glide, Body Glide

Walking out of the Airbnb – I was dressed in the following:

• Sports Bra

• Long Sleeve T

• Garmin

• Road ID

• Voler Tri Shorts

• Teva Sandals

• Timing Chip

And the following came with me into the car-

Morning Bag:

• Water Bottle

• PB & Banana Sandwich (which I put into my handlebar bag)

• Iced Coffee

• Wetsuit

• ID/Debit Card (which I put into my handlebar bag so I would have it post-race)

• Phone (same thing – I put it in my handlebar bag and would transfer it to my Spibelt before the run – I was nervous not to have it with me and am used to running with it on all of my training runs anyway)

• Post Race Clothes (leggings, sports bra, shirt)

We left the Airbnb around 4:40 AM and Molly dropped us off right near T1 with absolutely no issues at around 5 AM. We first got our Sharpie markings on our arms and calves and headed into transition. Everything was set up and ready to go by 5:15 AM (I left out my arm sleeves, shirt with bib, socks and cycling shoes, helmet).

Before Leaving T1 Checklist:

• ID/Debit Card, Fuel and Phone in Bike Bag

• Water bottle in Cage

We headed to the shuttle with our morning gear bags.

Morning gear bag

• Post-Race Clothes (morning gear bag would be waiting for me at the finish line bag pick up area)

• Goggles

• Swim Cap

• Ear Plugs

• Triple checked my timing chip was on my ankle

We were one of the first shuttles to get to the swim start and we found a place to sit – we would be there for a while! On paper, sitting and waiting to start the race for 2 hours sounds horrible – but it really wasn’t bad somehow.

We were a little chilly, but it wasn’t anything unbearable. We took turns getting in and out of the porto potty line and I continued to get more stressed at the fact that I hadn’t had any luck yet in that department. I sipped on cold brew and we watched as the sunrise turned the sky some pretty incredible colors! Abby braided my hair – I must-do for any triathlon. Ideal for swim caps and helmets!

Photo by Brett!

Around 6:15 AM I hate a piece of my Ole & Steen seeded rye bread with PB & banana.

I distinctly remember Dermot Kennedy playing as we waited and I took it as a sign of a good day to come.

Eventually, around 6:45 AM, we started to get our wetsuits on. I was careful not to rip it any more than I already had and also made sure to pull it way up on the ankles and wrists to make sure I had more than enough space in my shoulders.

Please note the giant hole. It’s fine. This thing was cheap…….

It felt good. I didn’t want to mess with it. But then we decided to give the bathroom one more shot. And I am GLAD I did because I finally had success in the portos. With my wetsuit back on, it was time to drop off my morning bag and for us to make our way to the long line forming around the swim start area.

Abby and Kayla were back and forth on which swim group they wanted to start with (it was a self-seeded swim start which I am now a huge fan of!) but I knew that I was going to go with the 45-50 minute group to play it safe. I stood with them in the faster group just to stay calm – I wasn’t ready to go off on my own just yet. I’m really glad I did – because we stood in line for about 45 minutes once the first athletes got in the water.

As we inched our way closer and closer to the street we would cross in order to get in the water, I finally gave them a hug goodbye and put myself at the front of the 45-50 minute group. Luckily, the girls around me were also chatty and we made nervous, excited small talk for the next few minutes.

I concentrated on taking deep, full breaths. I told myself to take today one thing at a time. Up first: a swim I could be proud of. I reminded myself of all the open water swimming in the Long Island Sound and at the lake in the Adirondacks. I had put in so much time and I wanted it to show! I didn’t need to be fast, but I wanted to actually swim. Face down, bilateral breathing, for real swimming. Catching and pulling and having tired arms at the end of 1.2 miles. Not side-stroking and backstroking and any-stroking to stay afloat – real swimming!!

As our group got up to the road the announcer said, “And here are the folks who are the really fast bikers and runners!” I laughed – so true.

Then, we were walking into the water.

And it felt – so warm?

Because the air was colder than the water and I was wearing a wetsuit, getting into the water felt downright pleasant. It was so nice not to start with the cold water taking my breath away.

I wish I could write a more detailed swim recap – but overall, I just knew that I was swimming and I wasn’t panicking. There were a lot of people around me (and a lot more men than I had anticipated) so I felt like I was having to change course a lot, but I was calm and I wasn’t getting kicked or swam over (for the most part).

My sighting could definitely use some work – because my version of sighting is pretty much stopping my forward momentum to stick my head up and look forward – and I was doing it a lot. My sense of direction isn’t the greatest, and my sense of direction in the water is laughable. But I managed to somewhat follow the crowd. Because I wasn’t trying to beat any records with my swim, I didn’t mind if I had to take wide turns or an indirect route in order to stay away from the most concentrated areas of swimmers.

I did take a turn pretty tight next to a wooden pole and kicked it – which I would later realize left some scratches.

Otherwise, I just kept swimming and before I knew it I could tell that we were in the final stretch. I felt good! I felt like I had done the absolute best I could and I was also very happy that I hadn’t swallowed a gallon of water which I hoped would help my stomach later in the race (in Montauk last year I had horrible cramps on the bike which I think had to do with the amount of salt water I unintentionally drank).

To get out of the water we had to scramble up a little ladder and it was perfectly fine – no line up of people waiting to get out.

Once I was up the smile on my face was massive. I felt like no matter what the rest of the day had in store, I had finally had an actual swim in a race.

SWIM: 35:08

As I ran out of the water I remembered to put my sleeve over my Garmin and my earplugs/goggles in my hand as I rolled down the upper half of my wetsuit.

After a few feet I came to one of the race highlights – the WETSUIT STRIPPERS! I plopped down on the ground, stuck my legs up in the air, and had my wetsuit ripped off me in one fell swoop. It was truly exhilarating.

I ran toward the transition area and as I got to the final grassy portion I saw Kayla and Abby up ahead and ACTUALLY jumped into the air. At that point I had seen that my watch said 35 minutes but it didn’t really hit me until I saw Abby and Kayla right there in front of me that the swim hadn’t just gone well, it had gone really well.

They heard me scream their names and we ran to our bikes together, with me saying something like, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED, but it was great!”

At my bike I started getting ready and eating my sandwich (1 slice seeded rye with PB and banana). Putting on arm sleeves while wet is not easy, FYI. And I definitely should have wiped my face off a little more. Before I left, I made sure that my wetsuit and everything else was packed up in my T1 bag (it would be picked up there and brought to the finish line). Soon I was running alongside my bike, cleats clip clopping like a horse as I came up to the line and mounted. 

T1: 8:04

In retrospect, I probably could have spent a little more time in T1 getting myself situated, but I was just so pumped coming off of the swim that I wanted to keep the momentum going. Once I was on my bike I spent the first few minutes pedaling easy and eating my sandwich – of course, this is where about 3 photographers captured me looking stunning with food in my mouth and my sunglasses completely lopsided as I hadn’t managed to loop them over one of my ears.

With my sandwich finished, I was ready to roll. The first couple of miles there was a lot of passing and being passed as people fell into position and tried to maintain distance between the cyclist in front of them. I was happy with the terrain – it seemed flat and the wind seemed calm. I was the perfect temperature.

I’m not sure what point it was that Abby and I found ourselves riding together, but all I know is I was overjoyed to think we could spend some time together on the bike course. I’m incredibly bad at pushing myself on the bike – and I knew that with Abby near me we could keep each other going like all of our training rides.

We ended up biking the rest of the way together. Abby led for most of the way, like the magical pacer that she is. And I just had to worry about keeping up.

The course wasn’t the most beautiful thing – but it was flat and car-free (for the most part) and I had Abby to yell random things at and we kept passing a few of the same girls back and forth (including Megan! The girl I had started the swim with!). Everyone was so lovely and encouraging and I loved that the self-seeded swim start meant that you really couldn’t look at anyone as competition because you had no idea when they had started.

I was good about eating and drinking and at the second aid station I hopped off my bike to grab a water bottle – I got way too nervous about grabbing it on the go (but Kayla did and I’m so impressed!!) Note for next time is that I should definitely have two water bottle cages. When I grabbed the plastic one from the aid station, I had to ditch my other one ☹ I was worried Abby would be too far ahead after that for me to catch up but eventually I found her again.

She told me she wanted to finish the bike in under 3:30 and I said, hell yes let’s do it!

Other highlights from the bike ride include passing a crazy house with lots of sculptures and passing a motorcycle gang and thinking how funny it was that a giant group of bikers was passing a giant group of bikers.

Bike Fuel:

• Mile 15 1 slice seeded rye with PB & banana (bringing the grand total to 3 slices of seeded rye with PB & banana…sponsor me Ole & Steen!)

• Mile 30 date

• Mile 40 date (as I dexterously got the date out of my handlebar bag, a fellow cyclist complimented me on my coordination. Little did he know I was also de-pitting the date in my mouth. Talent.)

• Mile 50 date

I really loved this bike ride. I felt strong and it was nice not to feel lonely and in my own head during it. But then we got to the last 5 miles – and the wind picked up, and I was tired, and I just wanted to finish. It felt like I wasn’t moving – and the demoralized feeling that I was hoping to avoid on the bike kicked in. Luckily, it was just the final stretch and we didn’t have to contend with the winds for the entire ride. But it was a brutal finish. Not to mention, the course was long by about 2 miles – so we really felt like we would never get to the end.

But finally I was on the final stretch into T2 and Molly was on the corner and saw me coming and started cheering and it was so good to see another friendly face out there!

BIKE: 3:18:53

Abby was close behind me and I started getting ready in T2. She told me to go without her if I was ready but mentally I didn’t want to be on my own just yet, so I drank some water and told her I would stop by the portopotty and meet her at the exit.

In the porto is when I realized that I still had black shit all over my face from the swim. Cool cool. Very cute.

T2: 7:17

We jogged out together and I prayed that my legs would carry me the final 13.1 miles, but regardless – I was very happy with how the swim and bike had gone.

Starting out, things felt pretty good and eventually Abby and I parted ways. There was a great crowd in the first portion of the run since we were in the downtown area and it was the first time I saw the shops and restaurants that I knew must have existed outside of the Convention Center and strip malls. Since it was an out and back course, there were people flying through on their way to the finish line and I tried not to think about how much more there was to run for me – I just tried to take in the positive energy.

I was also excited that the out and back course meant I could be on the lookout for Caroline, Michelle, Kayla and Abby as I went.

I was shocked when my watched beeped for the first mile – it seemed to have gone by SO fast which was a good feeling.

Like in Montauk, by plan was just to take things one mile at a time. To truly never think ahead to the next mile, and just run the mile I was in.

It made things go quickly, despite the fact that I wasn’t moving super quickly. I let myself walk through every aid station – making sure to drink at least one cup of water at each. I also had some oranges and pretzels at the aid stations- which had a big selection.

I came up to Megan again at one point and we chatted for a few minutes.

Each of the aid stations was themed and all of the volunteers were so amazing - fully dressed up and playing music and yelling our names.

But eventually, like I kind of suspected, my right IT band started feeling like it was completely wound up in a knot. The rest of the run was spent gritting my teeth and stopping every half mile / mile to stretch on any street sign or portopotty that I passed. Miles 9-13 were probably the worst, but the pain started around mile 5.

I’m proud of myself for not getting frustrated or angry – there was no changing it, it had been bothering me all throughout training, and I was just happy that I had gotten to the starting line, had a great swim, great bike and I knew I was going to finish the run and do my best to still enjoy being out there!

I passed Michelle at some point, and then saw Abby at the turn around point, and finally saw Kayla who had a big happy smile and we stopped for a quick hug.

At mile 6 I also ate a half of a Lara Bar (it was such an exciting surprise when I took a bite and realized it was carrot cake flavored!)

When I made it to mile 12 I told myself, “It’s been hurting for the last hour and it’s going to keep hurting no matter what speed you’re going, so make mile 13 your fastest – cross the finish line feeling fast!”

And so after a final stretch at the last aid station, I ran proud and slightly limpy for a final 1.1 miles – crossing the finish line with a half marathon time of 1:59:19 and a final mile pace of 8:14 (my fastest of the 13 miles).

Run: 1:59:19

My hamstring seized up once or twice on the final sprint and I thought I was going to go down, but I focused on using my glutes and hips to bring my legs up instead of my hamstrings and was able to keep pushing.

I have never soaked in a finish line more. I’ve never raised my arms above my head and had time slow down. I could feel my face twitching between a giant smile and the threat of tears. I heard them announce my name and time sped back up as I took the final steps and slowed to a shaky stop.

I got my medal, I got a water bottle. I heard Michelle screaming my name at some point. I got a picture. Molly found me and brought me over to Caroline and eventually I looked down at my phone – the first thing I saw was a Venmo sent to me by a coworker directing me to buy an IPA.

In the craziness of a finish line I didn’t have much time to think or reflect – soon Abby was crossing the finish line and I was trying to find her, and we were getting our bags, and talking to Michelle and Brett (it was so nice to see them there and Michelle absolutely CRUSHED her race going sub 6!) and then we found Kayla who was crying a lot and we were also just so happy and in such a post-race bliss. At some point I called my parents and eventually, we gathered ourselves and got our bags from T2. We brought them to the car and changed on the top of the parking garage while recounting our stories from the day.

We walked to the post-race food, but it was super disappointing (though there was a turkey sandwich!), and it had started to rain at that point. So we went back to T2 to give our bikes back to Tribike. I waved goodbye to my bike and bag (not wanting to think about how gross it would smell when I was reunited with a still-wet wetsuit two weeks later in NYC).

Plz peep the manicure - these nails made me faster.

On the car ride home I scrolled through the final results and felt super content with how the day had gone. Sure, I would have loved to crush the run, but I had kind of known that wasn’t in the cards. And I was beyond proud of my swim and bike. Sorry, have I mentioned how happy I was about my swim and bike?

overall finish: 6:08:39

That’s a more than 30 minute PR (Montauk was 6:40:20)!!

Back at the house we drank champagne and showered and were merry. That night, Abby, Kayla and I went to a brewery to eat and drink beers flights and take tequila shots which was pretty much the best thing I could have asked for. I was with my favorite people in the best post-race high I had ever experienced. 

The post-race high was so real, in fact, that we found ourselves awake at 3:40 AM that morning hysterically laughing and completely incapable of sleep.

In the aftermath of the race, I’ve been seriously contemplating a full Ironman. After Montauk, I felt like a half was challenge enough. It felt really hard and I couldn’t imagine doing twice the distance. But after North Carolina I felt good. I felt like I had belonged out there – and yes, it was obviously a huge challenge, but there was still something left in me (though there was nothing left in my IT band).

I’m really proud of this race – not just because it was a huge PR but because I trained through a crazy work schedule this summer. I’m also proud of myself for taking a bit of a step back from last summer – where training was all consuming and I thought about nothing else.

In this year’s final weeks of training I didn’t feel burnt out and ready to throw in the towel which I think says that I did things right.

Thanks to my family – though I’m not quite sure they understand why I do this – they never make me feel guilty for having to schedule things around not only my work travel but my long ride schedule. 

Thanks to my acupuncturist and F45 and my foam roller and the biggest thanks of all to Abby and Kayla. When it comes down to it – I wouldn’t do any of this if it wasn’t so much fun to do it alongside both of you.

I don’t know what’s next. I do know I want to set some non-fitness focused goals for the next year. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some races thrown in there too.

If you read this whole thing, thanks to you too!

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Race Recap: MightyMan Montauk Half Iron Distance Triathlon!

In December, I signed up for my first half IRONMAN race - in Wilmington, North Carolina on October 13, 2018.

When I clicked register - I knew there was a chance that I wouldn’t make it to the start line. Either a work trip would come along that I had to be at, or my legs (shins) wouldn’t get me through the training. What I really wanted was a summer spent swimming, biking and running with my friends who had agreed to sign up with me.

I was excited for free outdoor lap swimming at NYC pools, Saturday long rides up 9W and on Long Island, and getting myself back to weekend running and brunching with friends. Even if I didn’t become a (half) IRON(wo)MAN I knew that if I enjoyed the training, it would have been worth it.

When I train for something – I tend to get tunnel vision. This 70.3 race consumed most of my spare time and mental energy from June up until yesterday. I did what I had to do to stick as closely to my training plan (this one) as possible – weekend plans meant Thursday morning long bike rides before coming into the office. Monday rest days were sacred. Foam rolling was a daily occurrence. I convinced myself that tart cherry juice was helping with inflammation and I submitted myself to 4 weeks in a row of acupuncture even though I’m terrified of needles.

Made a friend! Hi Emma!

I swam farther than I had ever swam before (and cried tears of joy) and found myself more and more comfortable in the pool. I biked further than I had every biked before. I PR’d Harlem Hill multiple times. I surprised myself on every transition run off the bike. I showed restraint on my weekly running mileage.

Overall, I trained 1,000 + miles and I continued to tell myself throughout the 14 weeks that THIS was the accomplishment. Whether I made it to the start line and whether or not I crossed the finish line, I was so grateful for 4 months of discipline and dedication and purpose and pride.

I was so grateful for 60 miles on Long Island with my best friends followed by yacht club beers with my parents. I was so grateful for open water swim practice while on family vacation at the lake. I was so grateful for the people of Clinton, NY who found me a bike to train with while I was in town for work. I was so grateful for the Friday night run to the pool followed by dinner and drinks. I was so grateful for a return to morning park loops with Tiffanie. I was so grateful for the once a week F45 training with Abby when I just didn’t want to swim bike or run for once (not as grateful for the box jump injury resulting in my shin being Steri-stripped shut).  I was so grateful for vibrating foam rollers and compression leggings and the discovery of Asser Levy Pool at sunset.

So when our North Carolina IRONMAN was cancelled last Monday because of Hurricane Florence, I was in a bit of a dazed disbelief, but I was also telling myself that it was OK. That the 1000 miles I trained were more of an accomplishment than the 70.3 on race day. And I still 100% believe that’s true. That’s what I’ll continue to be most proud of.

But I also didn’t want to be robbed of the proof that my training had worked. That all those hours could get me from start to finish of a 70.3 distance triathlon.

On Friday I happened to see a post on the North Carolina race page that MightyMan Montauk was offering $40 off registration to anyone who could show they had been registered for North Carolina. The race was on Sunday and they offered a half Ironman distance option.

I texted my friends asking, “Is this crazy?” And their response of “Yes, but I’m totally in” is why I love them. I booked a hotel at 5 PM on Friday. I packed a bag Friday night. I got some sleep, woke up Saturday morning, got myself on a train, and at 3 PM I was in Montauk.

I walked myself, my bike and my massive backpack the mile to registration, paid my $200 cash, and was officially signed up 20 minutes prior to packet pick-up closing.

I continued the .5 mile walk to Atlantic Terrace, checked-in, and was told that there would be a wedding happening outside our room until 11 PM. Grrrreat.

Next I walked to IGA, bought a banana, walked to Herb’s, got a chicken cutlet/cheddar/avocado/spinach sandwich on a roll, took a picture of the beach, shaved my legs, put my race tattoos on, organized my stuff and crawled into bed where I sat listening to Armchair Expert until 9.

I also eavesdropped on the maid of honor and best man speeches of the wedding – they weren’t that great. Around 9 I turned off the lights, popped a melatonin and dozed off until Abby and Annelise arrived at around 1 AM.

That’s right, 1 AM. They’re the crazy ones.

We got settled, they filled out the registration paperwork so it would be ready to go in the morning, and we all fell into bed. 3 hours and 45 minutes later, our alarms were going off and it was GO TIME.

I got dressed:
-Favorite Sports Bra
-Voler Tri Shorts
-Tank Top
-Long Sleeve
-Wet Suit Legs on, arms tied around my waist
-Flip Flops
-Garmin (life changing realizing I could wear it for the swim!)

I prepped my food:
-Joseph’s Tortilla
-RX Peanut Butter
-Banana 
(*This is truly the highlight of every long workout and race)

Downed some Stumptown canned cold brew, triple checked my bag, body glided the neck and ankles, triple tried to poop (and failed) and we were out the door by 5:15.

It was a half mile walk to Fort Pond transition area where Abby and Annelise registered and got tatted up. The sky was starting to lighten as we made our way to the second transition area and laid out everything we would need for the run (the course had officially changed on Friday when they announced that they couldn’t hold the swim at Fort Pond due to algae levels – just another wrinkle).

I ate half of my PB banana wrap, gathered everything I would need for the swim/bike and we set off on our bikes (in wetsuits and flip flops) to the swim start/transition one at Navy Beach. It was about a 3-mile bike ride and we were feeling warmed up.

At Navy Beach we racked our bikes, set up what we would need to transition from swim to bike, got our timing chips and most importantly, Abby braided my hair and gave my wetsuit a loopy hookeroo.

The entire time a woman was on the microphone going over the different swim courses and I was just getting more and more confused. We donned our hot pink swim caps and headed towards the water where we asked multiple people, “Do you know where we are supposed to turn?” The general consensus was just keep the buoys on your left at all times which seemed simple enough (foreshadowing – it was not simple).

Everything had moved so quickly that morning that I hadn’t really had time to freak out at the fact that the water was pretty choppy looking.

What I liked about the swim start was that we just waded into the water up to our chest and once they said go, people went as they pleased – once you crossed the buoy your timing chip activated. It was a lot less stressful than a jump start, though there was still a lot of kicking and splashing as people got started.

I had just figured I would follow the hot pink swim caps and figure out the course, but it was evident pretty quickly that most of the pink swim caps were going to be wayyyy ahead of me. I felt the familiar feelings of “oh my God I can’t do this” and then I looked around and for the first time realized that these were no joke WAVES and they were not cyclical, rolling waves – they were choppy waves coming from all different directions and crashing into each other and rolling you around and making buoy spotting next to impossible. My mindset was “I have an hour to get this done – until they force me out, I’m going to keep trying.”

At one point, I looked up and saw Annelise next to me and felt so much relief. Then I saw that she was struggling too and tried to calm us both down.

It was chaos out there – and because they had used the backup swim plan, I felt like most of the lifeguards on paddle boards and jet skis were also confused as to what colored caps were supposed to be swimming where. At one point I was swimming into oncoming swimmers which yes, seemed wrong in retrospect, but I was keeping the buoys on my left like they had said! One of the lifeguards started aggressively screaming at me, telling me to stop backstroking and swim, and generally acting like I WANTED to be swimming off course. It was ridiculous.

Luckily, at that point in the swim Abby and I had found each other and though we were one of only a few pink swim caps left in the vicinity, as long as I had her in my sights I felt OK. We somehow navigated to the turn buoy (me, entirely by backstroking and looking at the sky and trying to calm myself down and swallowing giant mouthfuls of salt water as waves crashed over me) and thankfully once we turned all those waves were pushing us into shore and I could finally put my swimming to use. I settled into a pattern of 10 backstrokes, 21 freestyle, sight, 10 backstrokes, 21 freestyle, sight.

The times I was actually swimming were definitely the best I’ve done in open water. I could exhale this time without panicking about the fact that it was pitch black.

The closer we got to the swim exit the more crowded and stressful it got but I swam as much as I could instead of standing and running on the rock bottom and dragged myself up onto the shore. I like to think I made this look partially more graceful than the others around me not used to rocky bottom swim exits. Thanks, North Shore!

1.2 Mile SWIM: 44:48

I knew Abby was close behind me so I took my time in transition so that we could head out on the bike ride together. I ate the second half of my wrap, put on my arm sleeves, put on my socks and bike shoes, made sure all my things were in my bag so that the race people could transport it back to Fort Pond bag check, put on my sunglasses, did the hokey pokey, turned myself about. Me, Abby and Annelise set off – “Just like any other Saturday ride!” I told myself.

Transition 1: 8:17

The first 15 miles of the bike were awesome. I felt really really good. I ate a date at mile 10 and was cruisin’ even up the very hilly straightaway to the lighthouse. The hills were hard and numerous but I was handling them well mentally. And seeing the lighthouse was so nice and memory inducing!

But around mile 15 I started to get the familiar post-swim cramps. These were like NYC Tri x 128390. I couldn’t sit up straight, I couldn’t take a full breath in, I felt like I was being stabbed in the side and back and stomach and my chest was tight. I honestly started to question if something was seriously wrong.

Abby passed me and I told her what was up and that I was just hoping sometime over the next three hours, the pain would go away.

Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do – I knew I had to keep drinking and eating if I ever wanted to make it through the rest of the race – even though my stomach felt so so awful.

The cramping was really bad for about 45 minutes and then it eased up a little but I couldn’t get out of my head telling myself that there was no way I was going to be able to run.

I knew that thought was not at all useful and I needed to just focus on the bike. I never found the rhythm I had had for the first 15 miles and I knew I was going much slower than most of my training rides. I’m very bad at self-motivating on the bike – if I’m next to someone I can keep up, if I’m alone on a highway – not so easy to get my RPMs up.

This was a course where you were alone a lot.

But I kept going, kept eating a date every 10 miles, had half an RX bar in the last 10 miles, and swapped out my water bottle at the halfway point.

I knew Abby wasn’t too far ahead of me and I kept telling myself to reach her so we could run together but my legs just weren’t having it. Eventually, the bike was over and I ran to my rack where Abby was finishing up her transition and checked on my cramp status which was definitely better than when she had seen me on the bike but also not great.  

57 Mile BIKE: 3:33:29 (15.7 MPH)

She headed out and I followed behind, after changing my socks and putting on my sneakers. Last minute I decided to run with my phone in my Spibelt because I fully expected the cramps to make this a loooong, slow, walk-filled half marathon with possible phone calls crying to my parents. I left transition and started the run, clutching a melted half of an RX bar in one hand. 

Transition 2: 4:11

I ran with Abby’s advice in mind – run each mile and only think about that mile. I just concentrated on getting to each aid station, where I allowed myself to stop, drink, and walk to the garbage can before starting to run again. My first mile split was 8:25 which was much slower than my usual transition runs but I figured that was safe and smart.

Stomach was feeling OK, right shin was hurting, left glute pain that I’d been worried about seemed numb – all systems were go and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the next two hours were by no means going to be easy but that this was possible and I was going to make it happen.

By the second aid station I realized that Abby was coming from behind me because she had stopped to use a porto potty at a construction site (so resourceful) and I breathed a huge sigh of relief that we could run together.

I had been entering a head space that I did not want to be in – due in part to a lonely bike ride and the almost entirely crowd-supportless course.

We agreed that there was no need to run up “Murder Hill” or any of the other vertical incline hills that the race creators for some reason decided to include on the run course. It was seriously unreal. 806 feet of elevation climb on a run course?! You’ve gotta be kidding me. We had trained for a 56-mile bike ride with less elevation gain.

Even with Abby beside me, there were times I started telling myself that I didn’t want to keep going. That this was stupid hard and I should never have signed up. That I should just walk. That I couldn’t keep up with her. Mainly, I just kept thinking, “I want this to be over, I want this to be over.” And – “HOLY HELL MY ARM PITS ARE CHAFING SO MUCH.”

I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t have Abby next to me step after step. In true Abby fashion - steadfast, strong, positive, realistic, random (refusal to put down her orange) – I just kept doing what she was doing and I knew we’d make it. 

She waited for my two porto potty stops (there was some GI distress happening), we walked the hills, we drank 6890 tiny cups of water, we cringed at the thought of any form of sustenance, we said things like “single digits left!” and “5K left!” and “this straightaway is going to suck but then it’s going to be the best!” and “Shalane and Emma to the finish!”

And when we crossed the finish line together, it was the sweatiest, happiest, proudest hug ever with maybe some tears - I don’t really know, everything was a little blurry.

13.1 Mile RUN: 2:09:34

TOTAL: 6:40:20

We got our medals and towels (which were not soaking wet and cold like I had hoped but still very nice towels) and gave Annelise big sweaty hugs and walked over to the food table where I demolished many many pieces of watermelon which was everything I didn’t know I had been waiting for.

We zombie walked around for a little, took some photo booth pics, took some phone pics, called my dad, got some popcorn (also a great post race snack – yum salt), got our bags, got our bikes and walked back to the hotel.

Things to note: my swim cap smelled like straight up seafood stew. Yuck. I somehow ripped two big holes in my $300 wetsuit. Wonderful. I was very sunburnt. It was a perfect day weather wise! I was proud that I kept myself sufficiently hydrated and fed. I was never hungry and I was peeing clear all day (this is what you get when you read a race recap, sorry).

Overall the race was fairly well organized – the bike and run courses were clearly marked to differentiate between the Olympic and Half distance races. I liked that everything was super close to where we were staying. I liked that it was a small race that kept things from seeming overwhelming.

I didn’t like that the swim was so chaotic, the bike course was almost entirely unsupported in terms of water/mechanics/etc., and there was no crowd support. Oh, and like I said, the run course was just stupid difficult. I would consider doing this course as an Olympic in the future though!

After we all showered we got food at Gig Shack (burger, fries, beet and goat cheese salad, hummus platter with mushrooms, endive, candied macadamia nuts, parsnips – it was phenom) where there was live music and outdoor seating.

Next stop was Montauk Brewery (so glad to have finally made it there!) and there double IPA was so so good. Last stop for the day was John’s (duh) for ice cream (Peanut Butter Blast) and a frozen chocolate covered banana (there’s always money in the banana stand).

Abby, again, is a crazy, wonderful human and drove Annelise and I back to our apartments before driving back to her house late last night.

I don’t remember falling asleep it happened so instantaneously. 

In conclusion-

Nothing about yesterday's 70.3 was how I had pictured it in my head since I signed up 10 months ago. 

There was no careful taper - I spent the week before the race working 12+ hour days on my feet, eating chicken tenders and drinking copious amounts of wine (in what was the most fulfilling work week of my life to date, so no regrets!)

There was no time to stress about my outfit, to carefully pack my bags and to triple check my to-do lists. There wasn’t even time to MAKE a to-do list. 15 hours after seeing that MightyMan Montauk was offering day of registration and a discount for those whose Ironman NC 70.3 race had been cancelled, I was on a train.

There was no expo and practice open water swim and big race night dinner with my friends. I ate a deli sandwich alone at the hotel while a wedding raged outside my window and my friends drove through the night to arrive at 1 am.

We we're supposed to have a down-stream fast channel swim and a flat bike and run course. We got a chaotic ocean swim (ok it was a bay but it opens up into the OCEAN), a hilly bike, and a run with so many hills I stopped counting.

I was supposed to finish with two other incredible women who supported me and pushed me and trained 1000+ miles with me. Knowing that Kayla couldn’t be there and that the unexpectedly wavy swim course rattled Annelise definitely changed the celebratory mood that we had all dreamed of and worked towards. They trained just as hard and are more than capable and beyond prepared to go the same distance.

But there are silver linings to every changed plan. 

I had no time to doubt myself or to panic. I felt like this race was truly just a chance to give my training a shot in a scenario where I otherwise wouldn't have gotten to race at all. 

It cut training short when I was starting to feel burnt out anyway and it came after a week of relatively low mileage since I had been away for work. 

There were no delayed flights or lost bags - just a train ride to one of my favorite places. 

I got to complete my first 70.3 on the island that I love so much - I felt comfortable and at home.

And i got to run 13.1 miles with my best friend - something I haven't done since 2016. 

Without you by my side for every step Abby- those last two hours would have been a lot less pretty. But your experience and steady determination kept me going and smiling and crossing the finish line with you was a definite life highlight. 

To everyone who has exclusively heard me talk about 70.3 training for the past 4 months ITS OVER and I'm sorry I’ve been a broken record and thank you for listening.

(And no, I’m not ready to sign up for a full!!!)